UNTHSC Receives $2.27 million Emerging Technology Fund Grant

Gov. Rick Perry today announced a $2.27 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) grant for the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth to establish a Center for Commercialization of Fluorescence Technology.

The Center will be led by the international research team of Zygmut Gryczynski, Ph.D; Ignacy Gryczynski, Ph.D; Evgenia Matveeva, Ph.D.; and Julian Borejdo, Ph.D. These notable biophysicists were recruited to UNT Health Science Center specifically to start a Center for Commercialization of Fluorescence Technology.

“The Gryczynski brothers bring a world class team of investigators who will offer unique fluorescent technology to Texas,” said Thomas Yorio, dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and senior vice president of research. “We are very appreciative of the Governor’s ETF initiative as it is an investment in the future.”

Major technology advances have occurred in the life sciences over the past 10 years, and one of the fastest growing areas is fluorescence-based detection and fluorescence imaging. These are major areas of interest for commercial enterprises in developing new technology for use in optical sensing, enhanced security systems, biomedical diagnostics and tissue imaging. Advanced fluorescence and nanotechnologies, also known as nanophotonics, are the most recent tools developed by the Gryczynskis, Dr. Matveeva and Dr. Borejdo.

They bring to the Center the most advanced approaches in utilizing and advancing fluorescence technology into a center that will provide service and collaborations with industry and academia for our state, country and world partners. Texas, and indeed the whole Southwest, has no such center at present.

The Center will enable biotechnology and nanotechnology clusters in Texas as well as provide training to enhance ongoing efforts and provide workforce educational programs in fluorescence nanophotonics technology. This will help in establishing and recruiting new industrial partners that will increase the economic potential within the state while increasing the Texas workforce.

“Technological innovation is the lifeblood of today’s economy. Through this grant, we are elevating our state’s emerging technology sector and universities to make Texas a strong competitor in the global marketplace,” Gov. Perry said. “Continued investment in emerging technology creates more jobs and generates substantial capital investments, diversifying and enriching our economy.”